The Los Angeles Chargers, with another loss on their record, now sit with an 0-5 record. As hard as it might be to believe, they are keeping company with the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans at the bottom of the league's standings almost a third of the way into the regular season.
There's room to believe this team can grind out some wins once their schedule lightens up. Their Week 7 bye, at the very least, will present an opportunity to re-evaluate this roster and get closer to full strength. But this team hasn't shown us much, if anything, to believe they can turn this season around even in a relative sense of the phrase.
Whether or not they end up with a top pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, putting them in range of a massive prospect like Jeremiah Smith, is a point that can be debated. But a playoff berth, let alone a winning record, is a far-off goal for this team at this point. We have to play the cards how they've been dealt, and it's therefore time to shift attention away, at least partially, from this roster as it's been constructed.
As of now, Los Angeles is slated to pick second overall in the Draft. Even if that number fluctuates over the rest of the season, here are five prospects they may be looking to target when the time comes.
5 NFL Draft prospects the Chargers should already be eyeing after 0-5 start
1. Jeremiah Smith, WR — Ohio State
Smith is the obvious one here, and the Chargers' ability to land him (even if they wind up at second overall) will depend entirely on the team(s) above them. Does a QB-needy team land there? Do the Dolphins and Titans even consider themselves to be in need of a quarterback?
But setting that to the side, there's no world in which Los Angeles passes up on Smith if he's available when they come on the clock. This receiving corps simply doesn't have a true star in its midst, and Smith has the size, speed, and separation ability to quickly cement himself as that type of player at the NFL level.
He's posted 48 receptions for 916 yards and 11 touchdowns to this point in Ohio State's season, and he's the clear answer at the top of the draft for any team that isn't looking to overhaul its quarterback position.
2. Leonard Moore, CB — Notre Dame
If the Chargers aren't able to land a top receiver in this draft, their next choice should easily be a cornerback. Donte Jackson is a free agent after this season, and neither Tarheeb Still nor Cam Hart have shown enough to be completely confident in their ability to anchor this room moving forward. Bringing in a piece who can develop into a star coverage corner in the Chargers' zone-heavy scheme, like Moore, should be a major goal for Los Angeles.
At 6'2" and 197 lbs, Moore brings ideal height to the position, but he's also rangy and fluid enough to see the immediate upside at the NFL level. Moore will be a starting-caliber corner on almost any team from the jump, and the Chargers may very well be in need of that sort of piece by the time we reach next offseason.
3. Charlie Becker, WR — Indiana
If Smith and Moore go off the board, there's not truly a player on the defensive side of the ball—at least right now—that would be worth taking over this class's second-best receiver, Charlie Becker.
There's certainly a talent gap between Becker and Smith, but Becker has the size (6'4") and the contested catch abilities to present a long-term solution to Los Angeles' woes at X-receiver. He's posted 30 receptions for 529 yards and eight touchdowns to this point in the season with Indiana.
If they're going to take this sort of playmaker in the Draft, it needs to be someone who can consistently get separation and can function, realistically, as a true star in complement to Ladd McConkey's versatile abilities out of the slot. In that light, Texas' Cam Coleman would be an option here as well, but we'll stick Becker in this spot for now as the draft board continues to take shape.
4. Collin Simmons, EDGE — Texas
The Chargers just spent a first-round pick on an edge rusher last season in Akheem Mesidor, and he's looked the part through his first five NFL games. In part, Simmons is on here simply to give some variety to Los Angeles' positional options. They're not going to take an offensive tackle at this point in the draft, and it feels unlikely there are any front-seven pieces that will be worth this sort of premium capital if the Chargers land it.
Simmons absolutely would be, though, if Los Angeles feels that slotting him in alongside Mesidor and Tuli Tuipulotu can give them one of the league's most formidable pass rushes. Simmons is not only the best pure pass rusher at the college level currently (he's posted 21 pressures and nine sacks through five weeks), but he also has the versatility to line up as a linebacker and function consistently in coverage, making him a viable pairing next to Los Angeles' primary edge rushers of the future.
This would be a wild swing, and it's not a glaring need at this point. But if Los Angeles lands somewhere closer to the fifth or sixth overall range, Simmons is certainly a prospect worth monitoring.
5. Ellis Robinson IV, CB — Georgia
I won't repeat here what I said above about the Chargers' need for a true top cornerback. As good as Joe Hortiz has been at identifying talent at the position in the middle rounds, the lingering contract demands for Los Angeles simply won't allow for that to be their pure strategy any longer.
Robinson isn't as admirable of a prospect as Moore, and he lacks some of the strength and fluidity that Moore does against larger receivers. But he's as fast as any cornerback in this Draft, and he's shown plenty of ability to track speedy receivers downfield during his college career.
This is a likely a pick more in the 7-10 range as it stands, but Robinson is certainly worth thinking about as this class's CB2.
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